A tractor is a common off-road and on-road motorized vehicle used to operate an implement. The implement may perform the function of mowing, plowing, or lifting, for example. An out-front mower tractor is one type of tractor having an implement.
An out-front mower tractor is used to efficiently cut a relatively large amount of grass and other ground cover growth. An out-front mower tractor typically includes a motorized tractor having ground engaging wheels and a mower implement attached to the tractor. An out-front mower tractor has the mower implement positioned in front of the tractor; thus, when the tractor is moving in a forward direction, the tractor pushes the mower implement. Conversely, when the tractor is moving in a reverse direction, the tractor pulls the mower implement.
Existing out-front mower tractors have exhibited problems. For example, out-front mower tractors have a tendency for the back end of the tractor chassis to "rear up" or buck when put in reverse. In particular, the rear end of the tractor rises up off the ground, pivots about the front drive wheels towards the implement, and then returns to the ground by pivoting away from the implement. The time duration of a buck is relatively short; however, the force of the rear end rising above the ground is significant.
The bucking tractor can be dangerous to the operator who is seated on the tractor. If the bucking is sufficiently severe, the operator may even be ejected from the operator's seat.
Existing out-front mower tractors have compensated for bucking by adding weights to the tractor behind the drive wheels. The further away the weights are from the drive wheels the more effective the weights are at preventing bucking. This additional weight causes the tractor to have poor traction because tractor weight is shifted off of the drive wheels and onto non-drive rear wheels which are mounted to the tractor behind the drive wheels. Traction may be particularly poor when operating the out-front mower tractor on a hillside, for example as the extra weights have a tendency to cause the tractor to steer downhill.
Others have tried to overcome this problem of buck-compensating weights by adding heavy springs to support the rear chassis of the tractor. The heavy springs transfer weight from the out front implement back to the drive wheels for improved traction. However, this also counterbalances some of the weight on the rear wheels which negates the effect of some of the buck-compensating weights. Therefore, a need exists to improve tractor vehicles and particularly out-front mower tractors.
The present invention satisfies this and other needs to improve tractor vehicles. The present invention satisfies these needs by providing an anti-buck device between the tractor and the mower implement. The anti-buck device reduces or prevents the rear end of the tractor from bucking up and forward. The anti-buck device also allows the front end of the mower implement to freely move upward away from the ground terrain and freely move downward toward the ground terrain. Accordingly, the present invention decreases the weight of tractor vehicles, eliminates the counterbalance forces, improves traction, and increases performance of the machine. The increased performance and decreased cost due to simplification provides a very desirable and cost competitive machine.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading this disclosure, including the claims, and reviewing the accompanying drawings.